recent searches

News

North Dakota Cropland Values Flat to Down

04/11/2017

Share this story

A decline in North Dakota cropland value of 1 percent was indicated by a January survey commissioned by the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands.

Andrew Swenson, North Dakota State University Extension Service farm management specialist, derived regional and state average cropland values and rents from the published results of the county-level survey.

Earlier reports suggest a greater loss of land value during 2016. A June 2016 U.S. Department of Agriculture survey showed a 7 percent decline in North Dakota cropland values, and a report by the North Dakota Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers indicated an 8 percent decline during 2016.

Swenson suggests that one reason the January survey indicated a more modest decline could be that it more fully reflected the impact on land values and rents from stronger-than-expected 2016 net farm income due to record corn and soybean yields. Soybeans and corn shattered previous record North Dakota yields by 14 and 20 percent, respectively. Also, soybean-harvested acreage was a record and corn acreage was the third highest in history.

The most recent county-level survey indicated that cropland values (January 2016 to January 2017) were the strongest in the south Red River Valley region, increasing 5.5 percent (to $4,083), and the northwest region, increasing 3.8 percent (to $1,230). The east-central and north Red River Valley regions showed a 2.3 percent increase to $2,061 and $3,035, respectively.

The southwest region had the greatest decrease, 7 percent (to $1,326), followed by the south-central region with a 4.5 percent decrease (to $1,597). Regions with declines ranging between 2.7 and 3.6 percent were the northeast (to $1,704), the southeast (to $2,827) and the north-central (to $1,682).

The survey indicated that average cash rent per acre for cropland increased by about 2 percent from January 2016 to January 2017, after a 3.4 percent decline the previous year. The greatest increases were 4.4 percent in the southeast region (to $99.80) and 3.8 percent in the northeast (to $58.40). There was about a 3.2 percent increase of cropland rent per acre in the south-central region (to $58.70).

All other regions showed an increase between 1 and about 2 percent. The average cropland cash rent per acre increased to $38.40 in the southwest, to $89.60 in the north Red River Valley, to $67.60 in the east-central region, to $36.40 in the northwest, to $124.60 in the south Red River Valley and to $51.20 in the north-central region.

After three years of declining land values, Swenson believes that the land market still is adjusting in the aftermath of an 11-year period, from 2003 through 2013, when cropland values averaged an annual increase of 15 percent, the strongest sustained run-up in cropland values during the past 100 years.

“Producers are in a dangerous financial environment because crop prices have dropped faster than production costs,” says Swenson. “Agriculture is a competitive industry, and during several years of strong crop prices, which peaked in 2012, producers were willing and able to spend more on production inputs, including land.”

He adds, “On average, this resulted in a doubling of production costs per acre over an eight-year period, from 2004 to 2012. Overall production costs peaked in the 2013 to 2014 time frame and have been declining, but not fast enough to project profits. Strong yields in 2016 provided a temporary relief to the downward pressure on land values and rents. However, producers cannot bank on record yields each year and face continued pressure to reduce production costs, somehow, unless crop prices strengthen.”

The expectation of higher interest rates is another negative to land values. Higher interest rates not only increase a producer’s borrowing costs on operating loans, but also typically decrease what land buyers are willing to pay to achieve a higher desired rate of return.

Show Privacy & Non-Discrimination Statements
The insurance products described by Producers Ag Insurance Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“ProAg®”) may not be a complete list of all products offered and may not be offered in all states. ProAg prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).